INTU PROPERTIES PLC - Trading Update for the period from 1 July 2015 to 6 November 2015

Trading Update for the period from 1 July 2015 to 6 November 2015

INTU PROPERTIES PLC
(Registration number UK3685527)
ISIN Code: GB0006834344
JSE Code:     ITU

6 NOVEMBER 2015

INTU PROPERTIES PLC

TRADING UPDATE FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1 JULY 2015 TO 6 NOVEMBER 2015

Highlights of the period:
   -   target for a return to like-for-like net rental income growth for the year as a
       whole (H1 2015: -1.0 per cent) through improved lettings and rising occupancy
   -   Continued improvement in retailer demand with 84 new long term leases
       agreed for £18 million of new annual rent, 11 per cent above previous passing
       rent (year to date: 12 per cent above) and in line with valuation assumptions
   -   Occupancy increased by 40 basis points since 30 June 2015 to 95.5 per cent
   -   Year-on-year footfall to date is marginally up in the UK and up 5 per cent in
       Spain, both outperforming their respective Experian benchmarks
   -   UK development pipeline on track with £60 million of developments completing
       at intu Victoria Centre and intu Potteries, where the cinema and restaurants are
       fitting out for their scheduled openings in December 2015. On site at intu Eldon
       Square, intu Metrocentre and intu Bromley with restaurant developments
   -   Completed the introduction of CPPIB as our partner at Puerto Venecia,
       Zaragoza, extending our partnership to two of Spain’s top ten shopping
       centres and releasing €113 million of funds for further projects
   -   Way finding and offers app successfully trialled at the recent student nights
       before its national launch across all intu centres
   -   Cash and available facilities of over £550 million and debt to asset ratio of 44
       per cent at 30 September 2015


David Fischel, Chief Executive, commented:
“The economic recovery is now more obviously rippling out from London and the South East
to other regions of the UK and our prime centres across the country are seeing
strengthening underlying retailer sales performance.

As this translates into improved demand for space and rising occupancy, we look forward to
a return to like-for-like net rental income growth for 2015 and are well positioned for a more
meaningful uplift next year.

We have successfully completed development projects in Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent in
the period and our investment programme continues to gather momentum both in the UK
and Spain.”

Optimising the performance of existing assets
The Group’s operating metrics are improving as we start to close out vacancy and bring our
development pipeline on stream (see below). We are on target, assuming no material tenant
failures, that like-for-like net rental income growth in the second half of 2015 will more than
offset the shortfall in the first half delivering a return to like-for-like growth for the full year.

In terms of lettings, 84 new long term leases were signed in the quarter, representing £18
million of new passing rent, in aggregate 11 per cent above previous passing rent and in line
with valuation assumptions. This brings the total for the year to date to 191 new leases
producing £35 million of new annual rent, 12 per cent above previous passing rent. Signings
in the period include:
    -   Five new leases with Kiko, continuing their UK roll out. They now have seven stores
        in intu centres, around a third of their overall UK portfolio
    -   Leases at intu Trafford Centre and intu Merry Hill with New Look Men, a new
        standalone menswear concept launched by New Look with a plan to open five stores
        nationally this year
    -   International entrants continuing to expand through intu with David’s Bridal signing its
        second UK store at intu Braehead and Victoria’s Secret adding to its nine existing
        locations with a new store at intu Lakeside
    -   13 new restaurant lettings across the portfolio including Thaikhun at intu Metrocentre
        and intu Victoria Centre

We settled 27 rent reviews in the period for new rents totalling £5 million, an average uplift of
7 per cent on the previous rents. Year to date, we have settled 105 rent reviews with new
rent totalling £24 million, an average uplift of 7 per cent on the previous rents.

Three units with a total rent of £0.1 million entered administration in the period. This is the
lowest quarterly figure since before the start of the economic downturn some seven years
ago.


Driving forward the UK investment programme
Our UK development pipeline is on track:
    -   At intu Victoria Centre, the £42 million mall refreshment and catering development is
        complete. This has delivered new brands to the centre such as Superdry, River
        Island, Kiko and Office and the first restaurant is now open for trade with further
        openings imminent
    -   At intu Potteries, the £19 million fully let cinema and restaurant extension opens in
        December, stimulating an improved letting pipeline in the main centre
    -   Catering developments at intu Metrocentre, intu Eldon Square and intu Bromley are
        on site creating over 30 new restaurants. Excellent letting progress has been made
        at all sites with intu Metrocentre and intu Bromley scheduled to open fully let in
        Spring 2016, with the intu Eldon Square development due to open later in 2016
    -   At intu Watford, we continue to see strong demand from both retail and leisure
        operators for the 400,000 square foot extension. With over 50 per cent of the project
        either exchanged or in solicitors’ hands, we aim to commence site clearance and
        demolition before the end of the year
    -   At intu Milton Keynes the council have resolved to approve our proposed 100,000
        square foot enlargement of the existing centre bringing additional retail units, a
        boutique cinema and new restaurants. This project represents a great addition to our
        development pipeline and will significantly enhance the standing of the centre

Making the brand count
      -   As an example of the increasing power of the intu brand, 130,000 students,
          representing an increase of over 20 per cent on the 2014 events, attended the recent
          student nights at 16 of our centres. Through our nationwide brand and presence we
          could offer discounts exclusive to intu and partner with the likes of O2 across all
          centres
      -   In September we previewed before its national launch our new app which provides
          in-centre way finding, personalised special offers and centre information in one easy
          to use service. The app was developed by our in-house digital innovation team and
          takes advantage of our own high quality Wi-Fi infrastructure. It was successfully
          trialled at the recent student nights with all the discounts available through the app
      -   A further example of our scale and brand power was securing a partnership with
          MasterCard for the Rugby World Cup 2015. In-centre we delivered match related
          events and attractions including match zones and on line launched a ‘Kick the Ball’
          gaming app


Seizing the growth opportunity in Spain
      -   The Malaga development project, intu Costa del Sol, remains on track for a start in
          2016 with a number of design enhancements under evaluation
      -   As previously announced, we completed the 50/50 joint venture of Puerto Venecia,
          Zaragoza with CPPIB, extending the partnership between Intu and CPPIB to include
          two of Spain’s top ten shopping centres
      -   Both our centres continued to perform well in the period with overall occupancy
          improving to 97 per cent. Footfall at both Puerto Venecia and intu Asturias is up year-
          on-year, and we have achieved quality new lettings at both centres at improved
          rental levels


Conference call
A conference call for analysts and investors will be held today at 08:00 GMT
A copy of this press release is available for download from our website at intugroup.co.uk


ENQUIRIES
Intu Properties plc
David Fischel      Chief Executive                                         +44 (0)20 7960 1207
Matthew Roberts       Chief Financial Officer                              +44 (0)20 7960 1353
Adrian Croft          Head of Investor Relations                           +44 (0)20 7960 1212

Public relations
UK:                   Justin Griffiths, Powerscourt                        +44 (0)20 7250 1446
SA:                   Frédéric Cornet, Instinctif Partners                  +27 (0)11 447 3030

Sponsor:
Merrill Lynch South Africa (Pty) Limited

NOTES FOR EDITORS
Intu is the leading owner and manager of prime regional shopping centres in the UK.

A FTSE 100 company, Intu owns and operates many of the UK’s biggest and most popular retail and leisure
destinations, including nine of the top 20, incorporating super-regional centres such as intu Trafford Centre, intu
Lakeside and intu Metrocentre, together with a number of city centre locations from Watford to Newcastle.

With over 23 million sq. ft. of space hosting top UK and international retailers from Apple to Zara, Intu centres
attract some 400 million customer visits from over half of the UK’s population every year.

Intu has a UK investment pipeline of £1.5 billion over the next ten years to add 2.6 million sq. ft. of new retail and
leisure space, of which 1.7 million sq. ft. is already consented. Major projects due to be underway soon include
the extension and refurbishment at intu Watford and the leisure expansion at intu Lakeside.

Intu also has a growing presence in the Spanish market, owning two of Spain’s top 10 centres, intu Asturias in
Oviedo, and Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza, a development site in Malaga with options on a further three sites in
Valencia, Palma and Vigo.

Intu creates a compelling experience for its customers, both on and offline, delivering on its brand promise to
provide the most digitally connected shopping centres, world-class service and events with a difference. National
initiatives include the annual ‘Everyone’s Invited’ event which in 2014 increased footfall that weekend by an
average of 13%. Our objective is for customers to come more often and stay for longer, in turn helping intu’s
retailers to flourish.

With some 115,000 people employed at Intu’s centres in the UK, representing some 4% of the UK’s total retail
workforce, intu is fully committed to supporting its local communities and the wider environment and is proud to
have received widespread recognition for its Corporate Responsibility achievements, including the coveted BitC
CommunityMark.

For further information see www.intugroup.co.uk

Date: 06/11/2015 09:00:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). 
The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of
 the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, 
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
 information disseminated through SENS.